Orrin Woodward: The Starbucks Experience

I just finished reading The Starbucks Experience by Joesph Michelli and think this would be an excellent book to read for anyone in a leadership role supporting customers in any fashion. I have picked out a few quotes from within the book that I feel will give the reader a better insight into the culture of Starbucks and how they have developed a service first attitude with their staff around the world.

"Starbucks management understands that a competitive advantage occurs when everyone in a company appreciates that nothing is trival and that the customers notice everything....Managers have to constantly put themselves in the shoes of their customers, seeing everything from the other side of the counter.

"Commitment to detail is critical in all businesses. If you ignore the smaller things that are important to those you serve, you'll fail to create the experience they crave. This inattention will be a surefire way to drive those customers straight to your competitors.

"We are not in the coffee business serving people, but in the people business serving coffee."

"The trick for management, therefore, is to get employees to see the bigger picture and understand that small components of their day to day tasks can actually have a transformational impact on customers and the people with whom they work, not to mention on the company's overall mission and reputation."

I love that last quote. Some companies are so obsessed with reputation that they will spend millions of dollars on advertising to help their "public perception" but this basically amounts to a white wash of rotting wood. The real issue continues to be the poor customer service and support given to their customers. A better use of those advertising dollars would be to fire the non-qualified managers running the company into the ground and bring in a new leadership team that is connected to the customers needs. There is nothing worse than a company disconnected from its customers with managers ignoring facts, not addressing issues, and blindly making decisions without any thought of the end result. History is littered with companies where management operated from their "ivory towers" and drove once profitable companies into the ground.

I have nothing against good advertising campaigns. However, one must perform due diligence first and ensure the proper management team is in place and that customers needs are being addressed. If managers are making poor operational decisions in a "black box" without proper insight and buy-in from feedback groups, your business will fail no matter how much money you spend on advertising and "reputation building."

Orrin Woodward always teaches to start with the end in mind. If you are in business, the bottom line is to serve the customer and respond to their needs. If you don't, someone else will. Starbucks has built an international company by responding to the customers needs and always going above and beyond to provide a positive world class experience during the purchase of a cup of coffee! There is no doubt that these principles can be used in many other industries.